When Luke Cowan-Dickie and Freddie Steward were ignominiously shepherd’s-crooked by Steve Borthwick before half-time last weekend, Luther Burrell felt their pain.
Burrell, watching in the crowd at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium having played for the England Legends against Ireland the night before, had suffered the same fate in Australia back in 2016. He knew precisely how the move would impact the pair of them.
It was a psychological hammer attack, one which will take them some time to recover from.
As a player, Burrell does not think he ever did get over the horror of Eddie Jones withdrawing him 28 minutes into the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane. England were 10-6 down at the time when he was informed he was being replaced by George Ford. In that moment his world came crashing down around him.
“It is a really uncomfortable moment to go through,” he said.
“When you are taken off in a situation like that, you are wondering what is going on. I don’t care whoever you are, there is going to be a voice in your head saying: ‘s**t, is this my fault? I’m getting dragged off before half-time. Am I responsible for this because it looks like perhaps I am.’
“In that moment it’s a pride thing and you critique yourself way more than you need to which can have a knock-on effect.
When I was sitting on the bench, with the Sky cameras directly in front of me, I felt the nation was looking at my face.
“I was already in quite a vulnerable state on the back of missing out on the 2015 World Cup squad and then I came off and it battered my self-belief. I was thinking ‘here we go again.’”
There is something particularly cruel about the pre-half-time switch. An interval substitution creates nothing more than a ripple, played out as it is in the dressing room behind closed doors, but the in-play replacement is just so public in its execution. So public and, in a team game, so isolating.
It is almost like a giant arrow descends from the sky and points to the doomed player as the murmur of surprise sweeps around the stadium before their lonely walk-off. There is nowhere to hide even after the humiliation. The TV lenses remain trained on the vanquished afterwards.
And it hurts.
“When I was sitting on the bench, with the Sky cameras directly in front of me, I felt the nation was looking at my face. Not just the nation, millions of people around the world,” said Burrell.
“I was there trying to put on a brave face – ‘it doesn’t matter, it’s okay’ – but it does matter, it’s not okay.”
Change made – Burrell was later told it was because of a poor defensive read – England went on to win that Suncorp Stadium Test 38-29. Jones told the rest of the players to get around the big Yorkshireman in the changing room afterwards and support him but being singled out like that only served to add to Burrell’s discomfort.
What had happened to him made him doubt himself and question his head coach’s faith in him. He was right to – Jones never picked him for England again.
Had England gone on and won that game I think the demons would really be creeping in as they did for me in my situation.
Jones pulled off a similar stunt in the third Test of that series with Teimana Harrison and England won that one too to complete a clean sweep. Likewise, he took off Danny Care before the break in the 2022 series decider against the Wallabies and England turned that around as well.
So, the nuclear tactic can work for a coach. Withdrawing Manie Libbok after half an hour in the 2023 World Cup semi-final and bringing on Handre Pollard undoubtedly helped South Africa squeeze past England. But on a human level there is a unique trauma associated with a first-half hooking which Cowan-Dickie and Steward will be feeling.
“For a player it’s hard not to let the ego kick in. That’s not talking from an arrogant standpoint but as an elite performer you have to have that element of ego about you to be a success. If you are getting taken off before half-time it is a dent to you,” said Burrell.
“Managing that is ultimately what is going to be pivotal for these two lads to enable them to bounce back.
“I do think they will be in a better position to move on from it than I was. While I was well established within the group, in terms of caps I was less established. The pair of them are settled within that squad but it’s still a moment in time you don’t want to experience.
“I believe the mindset will be quite similar. There will be an element of self-sabotage at work there.”
The fact Borthwick’s switch failed to trigger an England turnaround will help Cowan-Dickie and Steward in that respect, Burrell believes.
“Had England gone on and won that game I think the demons would really be creeping in as they did for me in my situation,” he said.
“But these lads have a good argument to say to Steve: ‘well you took us off but nothing really changed. Our set-piece was still not functioning, our backfield was still not functioning, we were still jumping out of defensive structure so what can I do to get back out there?’
“Based on the way it is set up I think they will both be involved against Italy.
“What I’d be saying to these guys is, yes, have accountability for your performance but you are both world-class players, do what you need to do this week, get back on the horse and put your hand up for selection.”
Ironically, Burrell feels the experience he went through – combined with plenty of others in his 15-cap career which was almost still-born before it started when he was turned down for a place in the Leeds academy – has helped him post-rugby. Establishing a tech business and setting up his own foundation has required resilience and adaptability and the life lessons he learned in adversity have stood him in good stead.
Something needed to change but was it that? Because the result was still a very poor one.
Leadership is not easy and while he questions the wisdom of Borthwick’s calls, he does not blame the England coach for trying.
“It was a tactical change – I don’t think it was personal. I believe in 2016 that was personal. That’s the difference here,” he said.
“Steve was trying to do something to reignite the England team at that particular moment.
“Something needed to change but was it that? Because the result was still a very poor one.
“I would probably have given them both more time. The reality was he could have made a whole heap of changes. Nothing would have helped.
“It was very difficult for anything to work on Saturday because we were second best in all facets of the game.”
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Players shouldn’t take something like that to heart, our game plan wasnt working, and in those times you need solutions. Also the real problem does not lie with those individuals, but rather as the team as a whole.